Economic Evaluation of Different Aquaculture Systems in Coastal waters of Goa, Southwest Coast of India
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Keywords:
Conjoint analysis, Farmer’s perception, Open water system, Semi-enclosed water systemAbstract
The objective of this study was to carry out the
economic evaluation of different aquaculture systems
in coastal waters of Goa. Break-even analysis
was used to compute the economic viability of
different culture systems. A survey was also
conducted to study the perception of farmers on
different aquaculture technologies introduced in
coastal waters. Among the four aquaculture systems
studied, the semi-enclosed multi-species culture
system was the most productive. The highest
benefit-cost ratio and rate of return and shortest
payback period were observed for the semi-enclosed
water system with multi-species culture. Thus, the
multi-species culture was found more economically
viable compared to the single-species system under
similar environmental conditions. Moreover, for the
semi-enclosed system, the productivity and survival
of species were comparatively higher due to the
control of water flow through sluice gates. Goa is
rich in semi-enclosed water bodies, which have a
history of being used for shrimp farming, but these
systems can be utilized for multi-species aquaculture.
Perception of farmers on the dissemination of
culture techniques revealed that adequate technical
support increases their confidence level. This paper
posits that there is sufficient scope and feasibility for
developing multi-species aquaculture practices in unutilised semi-enclosed coastal areas of Goa by giving adequate technical support to the farmers.